On this Memorial Day, we honor the brave souls who made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation. While Master Sergeant Raul Perez \u201cRoy\u201d Benavidez is not among the fallen, his life was defined by their memory. Some call him the real-life Rambo. <\/p>\n
Though Roy Benavidez survived the battlefield, he endured wounds so grave that many believed he wouldn\u2019t make it. And yet, he lived. He lived to tell the stories of those who didn\u2019t return. He lived to ensure the sacrifices made on foreign soil were not forgotten at home. And he lived to remind us all that patriotism doesn\u2019t look one way. It also looks like a barefoot kid from Cuero, Texas, who grew up poor, orphaned, and proud.<\/p>\n
Born in 1935 to a Mexican American family in a small Texas town, Benavidez was no stranger to adversity. By age seven, he had lost both parents. As a child, he shined shoes, picked cotton, and sold tacos on street corners. At 15, he dropped out of school to help support his family.<\/p>\n
He carried that unbreakable work ethic into the military, first serving in the Texas National Guard, then transitioning to active duty with the U.S. Army\u2019s elite 82nd Airborne Division. Later, as a Green Beret, Benavidez was deployed to Vietnam.<\/p>\n
After stepping on a landmine during his first tour, doctors told him he\u2019d never walk again. But Roy Benavidez wasn\u2019t one to accept limits\u2014not from poverty, not from injury, and certainly not from fate. Six months later, he walked out of the hospital and returned to duty.<\/p>\n
On May 2, 1968, in a harrowing six-hour battle in the Vietnamese jungle, Benavidez performed what President Ronald Reagan would later describe as \u201ca story no one would believe if it were a movie.\u201d Armed with only a knife and sheer determination, Benavidez charged into enemy fire to rescue a 12-man Special Forces team.<\/p>\n
Shot, stabbed, beaten, and blasted by grenade shrapnel, he carried wounded soldiers to safety again and again. He shielded them with his body. He refused to stop fighting, even after being presumed dead and zipped into a body bag.<\/p>\n
Legend has it, he spit on the medic to prove he was still alive. His daughter, Yvette Benavidez Garcia, calls it \u201cthe luckiest shot he ever made.\u201d<\/p>\n
Benavidez was eventually awarded the Medal of Honor in 1981. But as his daughter points out, he never called it something he \u201cwon.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy dad was quick to correct that. He\u2019d say, \u2018I didn\u2019t win anything\u2014I earned it,\u2019\u201d Benavidez Garcia tells Nuestro Stories. \u201cWe still correct people when they say that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Off the battlefield, Roy Benavidez was a father, a man of deep faith, and a proud Mexican American who loved Freddy Fender and Hank Williams, and never wavered in his devotion to his community.<\/p>\n
Despite his service, he returned to a country that didn\u2019t always celebrate him. He endured discrimination, racism, and the invisible wounds of PTSD, long before those wounds had a name.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe went through mental torture reliving the moments in combat because he was so committed to helping others,\u201d says Yvette. \u201cBut he never once complained about the hate he received. His motto was always: \u2018Don\u2019t worry about it. You\u2019re OK. The world\u2019s wrong.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
In an age when the contributions of Latinos to American history are still too often overlooked, Roy Benavidez stands as a testament to everything we are. Courageous. Devoted. Resilient. And yes, invincible.<\/p>\n
\u201cWould you do it over again?\u201d Benavidez asked during a speech, when he received the Medal of Honor. \u201d \u2026 I\u2019ll answer you in this manner: There\u2019ll never be enough paper to print the money \u2026nor enough gold in Fort Knox for me to have, to keep me from doing what I did. We should never look at the color of skin. The only color we should look at is right there: Red, white, and blue. We\u2019re all Americans. I\u2019m proud to be an American. And even prouder that I earned the priviledge \u2026 to wear the Green Beret. I live by the mantra: \u2018Duty, honor, and country.’\u201d<\/p>\n
Roy Benavidez<\/p>\n
Want to know more? Benavidez\u2019s story is told in the biography The Ballad of Roy Benavidez by historian Dr. William Sturkey.<\/p>\n
For even more, check out Benavidez Garcia\u2019s children\u2019s book called, \u201cTango Mike Mike:\u00a0 The Story of Master Sergeant Roy P. Benavidez.\u201d<\/a> \u201cIt\u2019s a short read, and intended for school aged students from 2nd grade thru 7th. \u2026 it\u2019s also for the young at heart,\u201d his daughter tells us.<\/p>\n The post Meet the Invincible Roy Benavidez: A Hero Who Fought for His Brothers and for Us All<\/a> appeared first on Nuestro Stories<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" On this Memorial Day, we honor the brave souls who made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation. While Master Sergeant Raul Perez \u201cRoy\u201d Benavidez is not among the fallen, his life was defined by their … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[148],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n